


we were born to the same sunrise

by nonnin



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Loss, Multiverse traveling, no this isn't a crossover fic, this fic is to fulfill my desire to finally write inside my dummy AU hehe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 20:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20534105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonnin/pseuds/nonnin
Summary: Aziraphale is a rogue multiverse traveler, having committed the crime of stealing from his world's soul. With an endless stream of hunters from his home world coming after him, he can't settle down for too long, lest they catch up to him and bring him home to be brainwashed back into a good, obedient observer. Unbeknownst to him, his home world is getting desperate, and they've sent out Crowley, their strongest hunter.Except, the retrieval doesn't go as planned, and now Aziraphale has a fellow traveler to rely on. But why does Crowley seem so familiar if they'd never met before...?





	we were born to the same sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> hey yall! this is my first fic in a while. good omens has sparked the **urge** in me to write. this fic is incredibly self-indulgent, bc this is my multiverse traveler au that my ocs inhabit :) if yall wanna read more about it, find the rules of the au here: https://nonexistentninja.tumblr.com/travelers
> 
> please excuse any mistakes - my beta reader is myself. i am also very much an american human, so forgive my non-britishisms. i've tried to keep it out, but i'm sure i've missed a thing or two. thank you for your patience!
> 
> the title of the song and the chapters are all lyrics from a very fun madeon song called "all my friends," which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qYyU019PbI
> 
> otherwise, enjoy the ride!

> _It wasn’t supposed to go like this. _
> 
> _ Get a piece, use it to save a world, come back and act like nothing had happened. _
> 
> _ Now, surrounded by the menacing figures of his superiors, Aziraphale tried to appeal to their logic. _
> 
> _ “Their world was going to be completely destroyed, millions of lives lost--” _
> 
> _ “We don’t _ ** _care_ ** _ about millions of lives. We were created to keep _ ** _order_ ** _ , not play nanny for beings on another world, Aziraphale,” a voice to his left boomed. The figure it belonged to stepped closer. _
> 
> _ “Just return the piece you stole and we will leave you alone,” another voice said behind him. The figures closed in. _
> 
> _ Aziraphale summoned his sword, fiery and bright; a welcome weight in his hand. The figures stepped back in surprise. ◾◾◾◾◾◾◾ grasped his free hand, slipping the pocket watch into it. _
> 
> _ “Aziraphale, _ ** _go_**_. I can handle this.” ◾◾◾◾◾◾◾ created a portal and gave him a small smile. _
> 
> _ “◾◾◾◾◾◾◾? No, you’ll--!” Aziraphale was pushed into the portal, but not before the figures managed to blast him with a powerful aura shot, sending him hurtling towards another world. As the portal closed, he caught a glimpse of ◾◾◾◾◾◾◾ on his knees, unable to withstand the auras pushing him down, trapping him._

Aziraphale woke up on the floor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocket watch housing a fragment of his world's soul, taking slight comfort in the familiar pulse of energy. The same dream, haunting him for all of the time he’s been running away from hunters trying to retrieve the fragment. He never remembered the exact details of the dream when he woke up, but he did remember the emotions.   
  
Longing.

Anger. 

Desperation.

**L o v e.   
**  
Love for whom? He couldn’t recall. The little that he could remember only served to remind him that, in the end, it was_ his_ fault that he was without friends, a home, a purpose. He was supposed to be a simple observer, an agent of order, taking notes and occasionally jumping in for minor things to keep the order of the worlds. His boundless empathy made it impossible for him to simply watch as the people he observed were hurt, nor could he resist an exotic snack from the diverse world's he traveled. Ha! What a fool he was. Now look where that got him: he had no friends, no home, and was stuck with an aura-sucking parasite that wouldn’t stop until it was returned to its source. 

Traveling was the essence of his being; what good was a traveler who never went anywhere? Yet after all this frantic running, his heart ached to find a place to settle, a place to belong. Never was there a moment to breathe, with all the hunters coming to "retrieve" him so that his higher-ups could brainwash him back to a good, obedient observer. Was this soul fragment truly worth it all? 

“Mr. Fell, are you alright? I heard a noise,” a voice said from the doorway -- it belonged to an elderly woman who made her way towards him and helped him into a sitting position. “Bad dream?”

“Thank you, Marjorie. Yes, just a bad dream.” Aziraphale allowed himself to be pulled up onto the bed, unsure of what to do.

“I'm not a medium for nothing,” she joked. “Oh! Let me get you a cup of tea to calm your nerves?” She started towards the door but Aziraphale shook his head.

“I think I’d best be on my way actually. Just remembered that I had another world to get to,” he said, eyes bleary and mind clouded with exhaustion. As much as he wanted to stay, to enjoy the company of another friendly and understanding presence, the only way he knew of to rid himself of these dreams and dark thoughts was to jump.

“So soon?” Marjorie clucked her tongue. “Well, I suppose you travelers always have the urge to travel. Do be careful, and come back once in a while for a chat, yes?” 

Humming in affirmation, he closed his eyes and allowed the fragment to summon a portal to lead him to the next world, as if in apology for the trouble it caused.

* * *

  
“Is the subject ready?”

“He still retains too much of his past personality. No matter, it should make it easier for the target to trust him. Send him on his way.”

Crowley could make out some of the conversation happening behind the closed doors, not really processing the words as he stared out the window. 

He was **bored**. 

All this hunting business was exactly the same. Grab a bounty, get the target, bring them (or whatever’s left of them) back to the head offices. Rinse and repeat. 

He knew he was supposed to be doing more than that; he was a _ guardian _ for crying out loud. As a guardian, he was trained to be powerful enough to withstand long periods of combat and, you know, _ guard _ things. Yet here he was, unable to use his skills, instead doing measly bounties. No aim. No aspirations. No reason to exist. 

It wasn’t all his fault, really. His higher-ups kept giving him small bounties, as if they were testing him. Every time he attempted to claim a bigger bounty, it was immediately taken down by another hunter and his superiors would handpick an easier one for him. They constantly put him through combat tests that he didn't enjoy, but he breezed through them with his sling anyway, given that most of the exercises underestimated how good he was with the thing. To be fair, he never exerted himself past what was required of him anyway, and he knew they noticed. He never cared enough, so why bother?

His gaze wandered from calm sky down to the people shuffling around on the street. They ignored the small bookshop in their midst, closed for as long as he could remember.

How long was that exactly? 

Crowley would like to think that he had a great memory, but there was always something missing. He thought further back, before his training, but the only image he could recall was that bookshop. Closing his eyes, he tried to clear away the mental static that took over whenever he thought too hard about his past. Somehow, it worked.

The smell of cocoa wafting in the air...

Sunlight highlighting the flecks of dust that danced around old, dusty books...

The sound of the doors opening broke his concentration. Gabriel and Beelzebub emerged.

“Crowley, it’s finally time for your big break! Here’s the target we’re looking for,” Gabriel said, handing him a bounty card.

> ** HIGH PRIORITY TARGET: WANTED FOR INTERFERING WITH OTHER WORLDLY AFFAIRS AND FRATERNIZING WITH OTHER WORLDLY INHABITANTS **
> 
> ** ABILITIES: GUARDIAN-CLASS OBSERVER **
> 
> ** WEAPON: FLAMING SWORD **
> 
> ** WANTED: ALIVE **
> 
> ** AURA SIGNATURE: ▩▩▩▩▩▩▩▩**

Crowley was intrigued. A guardian gone rogue? What was more interesting was that this particular one was an observer. They weren't supposed to cause trouble, much less interfere with the worlds they visited unless told to do so. Looked like this one meddled too hard. And flaming sword? Might be harder to take down with his sling, but he was sure it would be another case of being underestimated.

“We need him alive, so try to make friends with him and bring him back,” Beelzebub said, smirking. “Lots of hunters have tried their hand at this target, but he’s a slippery one. Now get on with it!” With that, the two higher-ups disappeared through a portal.

Left alone, Crowley stared down at the card for a moment longer. Aziraphale? Something in the back of his head was screaming **familiar **but he didn’t know why. He tuned into the aura signature.

Nothing happened.

“Uuhhh?” Crowley uttered to himself, confused. Was the card broken? That, or the target was already dead if the aura wasn’t--

Oh.

** _Oh_ **.

Foreign yet familiar emotions flooded in. 

Longing. 

Sadness.

Fondness. 

**L o v e.  
**

Unsure of what was happening, Crowley shook his head to clear out the unwanted feelings and focused on the tugging on his soul now that the aura tuning kicked in.

Time to get to work.

* * *

  
Aziraphale wasn’t one for regrets, but he will freely admit he made a mistake today. Rather than sticking to his plan of one dish per restaurant on his world food tour, he opted for much more than he was willing to admit to himself. It wasn’t _ all _ his fault; he fingered his pocket watch as he cursed his nervous disposition and lack of sleep the night before, compounding onto his already stressful lifestyle. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Instead, Aziraphale focused on the figure tailing him on the busy streets of this world’s travelling hub. A quick read on the figure told him that he was definitely not from this world and he was slightly less menacing than his aura made him out to be. To be fair, Aziraphale wouldn’t say he fit in much better either, considering the world was inhabited by what could only be described as minotaur birds but with elephants as the top halves rather than a bull’s, and wings for arms. In his defense, he _ was _ in the travelling hub, but the other travelers in the area blended in better, likely because they were here on official business.

“Not exactly the most conspicuous hunters, that's for sure. Have they gone soft? Oh dear, what if that's Gabriel pretending to be incompetent? He could throw me off guard! I can't believe he thinks I’m an idiot. Or is that what he wants?” Aziraphale muttered under his breath, quickening his pace. He pushed past a particular large crowd of younger elephant beings, cursing their wall-like formation that forced him to be rude. He turned around and didn't see the hunched figure to his delight, letting out a small laugh of victory and continuing confidently forward. 

Until he ran into said figure. 

“Oh! I apologize, I wasn't looking where I was going. You see, I was trying to get away from a mysterious figure tha- ah!” Aziraphale exclaimed when he realized what, or rather who he'd run into. He tried to turn around to run but a hand caught his shoulder. 

“No no, please do tell about this mysterious figure,” the figure said, grinning widely. He looked over his sunglasses, eyes gleaming with mischief.

Aziraphale wasn't sure if he should fight or jump to another world, and neither seemed appealing because, if he was being honest with himself, he was exhausted and bloated. He sent projected annoyance at the fragment in his pocket watch, knowing full well it would be able to feel it. 

To his surprise, it calmly responded.

** T R U S T H I M**

“What? Trust him?” Aziraphale said, only realizing he said that aloud when the figure’s expression changed to confusion. 

“Uh, yes? I’m just here to have a chat. I’m not all that scary, really. The name’s Crowley by the way,” Crowley said, extending a hand out. Aziraphale stared at the hand warily. Crowley put his hand down. “I’m hungry. Want to grab dinner?”

“I’ve eaten all day -- I’m not hungry anymore. You don’t even know my name,” Aziraphale said. It was rare that he interacted with other travelers, even in a hub world. It was even rarer that one would approach him and try to make friends, yet here he was, negotiating with a stranger about dinner because he couldn’t bring himself to turn down a meal. (And he was also incredibly lonely, but he wouldn't let himself delve too deep into that subject at this moment).

“Fiiiiine,” Crowley said with fake exasperation. “Who do I have the pleasure of having this dinner with?” 

“Aziraphale. Now, I’ve already eaten as I just mentioned, but since you've been so kind as to offer to pay for this dinner," Aziraphale said, delighting in Crowley's groan, "I could use some dessert. Any preferences?” He felt what could be described as an enthusiastic pulse in his pocket at the mention of dessert.

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s go there shall we?” Crowley pointed at a random restaurant along the street. He started towards it but Aziraphale stopped him.

“No, that one won’t do. Their food is mediocre at best, no offense to the owners of course. I suppose we could try… ah, there it is!” Aziraphale went in the opposite direction, guarded but unable to deny the possibility of food.

“Just so you know, you’re not very good at blending in. From me, at least. I’m sure whoever’s looking can’t find you, but you should be careful,” Crowley said cheerfully as he followed along. “Don’t want to be attracting the wrong people.”

“I’ve been doing fine without your help, thank you very much. For all I know, you could be one of those ‘wrong people’ and I could be falling for a trap right now. But for some reason, I’m having dinner with you.” Aziraphale sighed. “I don't know what game you're playing at, but I suppose if you were here to take me back, you would have done it by now. I don't think I've known the head offices to be inefficient.”

“Aw, don't be like that. To be honest the reason I was following you was because you seemed like the thorough type, someone that could help me get a good food recommendation. Guess I got it right on the nose, huh?” Crowley grinned.

“Really? With how menacing your aura is, I wouldn't have guessed that you were just here for dinner,” Aziraphale shot back. 

“I have some other business to attend to that's entirely unrelated to you. Just thought this would be a nice break is all,” Crowley lied. Well, he didn't lie about the break part, but that didn't matter to Aziraphale, who was oblivious to the whole situation. Crowley almost felt sorry for the man, having to bring him back to the head offices for some sort of mental torture, so he decided to give him the opportunity to enjoy one last meal before he knocked him out and collected his bounty. 

Except, that didn't happen. 

What followed was a regular dinner where nothing out of the ordinary happened. That is, if you didn’t count the moment where Aziraphale and Crowley both reached for their shared dessert and brushed hands, which in itself wasn’t strange.

No, the strange part was when they both froze at the exact same moment as they were hit with the same vision.

> _ “Crowley, just this once?” Aziraphale asked, reaching across with a spoon to take a bite of Crowley’s pie. _
> 
> _ “Ah, no! What do you mean just this once? This happens every time!” Crowley wrapped a protective arm around his dessert. “And you still have all of your cake left,” Crowley said, gesturing at the slice of cake on Aziraphale’s plate. _
> 
> _ “Please?” Aziraphale said. He didn’t wait for a reply, reaching over the arm, scooping a piece of pie, and shoving it in his mouth. _
> 
> _ “Why you…!” Crowley leaned over and retaliated by taking the whole plate and sliding the cake into his mouth. _
> 
> _ “My dear, how could you?” Aziraphale asked. _
> 
> _ “You started it.” Crowley grinned. _

The moment ended. Both the travelers stared at each other, not realizing the other saw the same vision. Aziraphale felt something tug at his heart as recognition flashed across Crowley’s face. Before either could ask questions, a chime pierced through the quiet tension.

Crowley blinked, expression going blank. “Hang on.” Crowley stood and went outside, bringing the pass to his ear. “This is Crowley.”

“Crowley! Have you found the target yet?”

“Yes, I was just about to knock them out and transport them back. Thanks for interrupting that by the way.”

“Good. We're right on schedule then. I will leave you to it.”

The call ended. Crowley stood there, staring down at his pass in contemplation. Something was off here, but he just couldn’t **remember **. He’d never had doubts about a bounty before; they were usually cut-and-dried, where the target was the bad guy and he was the good guy coming to bring them in for them their crimes. Aziraphale didn’t seem bad at all. It also didn’t help that for such a clever person that could avoid so many hunters, Aziraphale was quite trusting and friendly. For all he knew, the amicable persona was an act. Yet something was insisting that no, this was a genuine man that had many more layers to him than “couldn’t mind his own business and meddled with other worlds.”

And what was that vision all about? Did they know each other? Maybe they had a falling out of sort?

Crowley shook his head and took a deep breath, making his decision. He walked back inside and sat down with a thump across from Aziraphale. Aziraphale quickly hid his own pass.

“Looks like I have to go and attend to that other business. Maybe we should do this again some time?” Crowley held up his pass inquisitively. 

While Crowley had been on the call, Aziraphale had been looking through his meager list of connections. There weren’t many people he could call upon when he was in trouble. He could only use the fragment so many times before the energy surge would alert unwanted visitors of his location. This dinner had reminded him of how nice it was to have a companion, and though he was loathe to admit, running away on a whim from his world wasn't the smartest move. He might have had a chance to defend himself and prove his innocence, but in a panicked decision ran away and proved his guilt. 

** T H A T ‘ S N O T W H A T H A P P E N E D **

_ It doesn’t matter, that’s all I remember, so I’m sticking with that story_, Aziraphale stubbornly thought at the fragment. What was that vision, anyway? He had already forgotten the details as soon as it stopped. The aching persisted, but Aziraphale wrote it off as missing companionship.

That being said, he supposed that having another connection wouldn't hurt. Reaching for his pass, he brought it up to Crowley’s and held it there for a few seconds, trading contact information.

“How strange, it says I already have you as a contact,” Aziraphale said, puzzled. How did he miss that? He switched over to his internal messages, but found none from Crowley. “Perhaps we’d met at some other travelers’ hub?” The fragment pulsed in annoyance.

“And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the same for me,” Crowley returned. “Yeah, I could see that happening. Nasty things, those traveler conventions. Probably exchanged information out of obligation or something.” He shrugged.

They sat there for a few more minutes, fiddling with their traveler passes awkwardly. Deciding that it was time to go, Crowley stood up.

“Nice meeting you Aziraphale. Hope we see each other soon,” Crowley said and winked, leaving sputtering Aziraphale behind. 

* * *

  
“You guys should have told me that Aziraphale would be this wily. I had him in my clutches before you called and interrupted. Yes, yes, I’ll get it done the next time I find him. Wily, I tell you! I can’t detect him now, but I’ll catch his trail soon. Gotta go, bye!”

Hastur looked at his pass, unamused. “This is taking too long. I can do something like this in a day.”

“We need the target as weak as possible to make the extraction easier, so stop bothering him. Give it a few more months and then we’ll step in,” Beelzebub said, unbothered. “Besides, the expression on his face when he figures it out. Ha! What a day that’ll be.”

* * *

  
Their next few meetings were only several weeks apart, each one lasting longer and longer as they grew accustomed to the other’s company. Aziraphale found it slightly strange that Crowley was always in the right place at the right time, popping in whenever Aziraphale was about to go for a meal or get in any bit of trouble. He liked to think that Crowley was looking out for him because they were friends.

Crowley liked to think that he jumped to Aziraphale’s side because it was _ his _ job to bring him in for the bounty, not anyone else’s. It was definitely not because their friendship made him feel like he had a purpose again and certainly not because there was a constant tugging in his heart, his _ soul_, for Aziraphale. If his superiors so much as heard that he was considering a friendship with his target, they would destroy them for their foolishness. So he tried to keep them in populated places so that the other inhabitants of the world could hopefully distract agents from his head offices long enough for them to get away.

Except, Aziraphale didn’t like populated places. They had tried to explore a bustling city, but Crowley could immediately tell how uncomfortable Aziraphale was getting. Feeling awful, he had let Aziraphale pick the next place they went to.

And of course, Aziraphale would pick a swamp of all places. He had excitedly gone on and on about trying to find some rare species of… newt? Newt-like thing? Crowley wasn’t entirely too sure; he was too busy worrying about protecting his oblivious friend. 

“Ah, I finally have time! You’d think I would have more time to observe as an observer, but they work us to the bone without any time to appreciate what we’re looking at,” Aziraphale paused, shaking his head sadly. He brightened up when he spotted a small creature run away from them. “You’ll love this Crowley. These newt things, like that one there, they’re very much like the newts on my home world but bright blue. You would think that they wouldn’t want to be bright blue because they need to blend into their environment. But as you can see, the swamp is bright blue too! Isn’t this wonderful?” Aziraphale sighed contently. Crowley wrinkled his nose.

“Not loving the smell to be honest,” Crowley said, frowning when he realized Aziraphale couldn’t tell they were from the same world, despite being in close proximity and having ample opportunity to prod deeper at his aura signature. It didn’t matter to him though, he told himself, despite the aching in his chest. His frown deepened when he noticed an even worse smell. He kept his face as neutral as he could, not wanting to scare Aziraphale. “Hey, I need to take a quick break. Swamp smell’s got me all dizzy, I think. I’ll be back soon, feel free to continue what you’re doing,” Crowley rushed deeper into the swamp, hoping Aziraphale wouldn’t notice that he was doing the exact opposite thing a person would do if they wanted to avoid the source of a bad smell. He honed in on the aura the smell belonged to and jumped to it.

“Ligur, fancy seeing you here. Enjoying the swamp lands?” Crowley nodded in acknowledgement when he emerged.

“Crowley, is it done?” Ligur asked.

“Look, he just keeps getting away and it’s quite irritating. He is a wily one, that’s for sure.”

“Hm. You’ve been on this bounty longer than anyone has been and you’re one of our better hunters. Something… friendly happen between you two?” Ligur smirked.

“Ha! No way. He’s just more clever than I thought. I’ll be finished with him in another month I reckon. I want to plan this out right so I get him after one go,” Crowley returned with his own smirk, though it was less menacing and more uncertain than he’d hoped.

“We’ll be waiting Crowley. _ They’re _ getting impatient.” Ligur waved his hand and went away.

“Impatient bastards… ” Crowley muttered himself. He heard a very Aziraphale-like yell in the distance. “Aziraphale? Hang on!”

He honed into the now-familiar man’s aura and found himself face to face with a very large crocodile-like creature. The said creature had Aziraphale underneath its disturbingly large claws -- so large that Crowley almost didn’t notice him there. 

For the first time, Crowley was scared for someone other than himself.

“Aziraphale! Summon your sword and throw it at me!”

“What? No! That would hurt y--” Aziraphale coughed, unable to breathe as the creature crushed him further.

“It’s not for me; I’m going to use it to distract this thing so you can get out from under there and then we can figure out a better plan,” Crowley said, summoning his sling. What he didn’t account for was the speed of the large creature. He only just noticed the other claw coming at him when he heard Aziraphale shout.

Something clenched painfully inside Crowley’s chest. He didn’t want to get hurt, because if he did, he would have to see Aziraphale’s pained expression -- frown deep, eyebrows drawn together. Caught in a whirlwind of emotion, he suddenly **remembered**_. _

> _"Crowley! Stop, you're bleeding too much!" Aziraphale held Crowley back, waving his sword around to fend off their attackers. _
> 
> _ "I'm fine, Don't worry about me. I'm the one who's supposed to do the protecting, remember?" Crowley let out a wet cough and groaned in pain. _
> 
> _ Aziraphale huffed. "It's not like I asked to have a partner in the first place. I'm just as strong as you are and I've managed just fine on my own." He ducked to avoid a bolt, grimacing as he felt the broken bone shift. _
> 
> _ "You're not so much better yourself. I need to get us out of here before our auras deple--" His breath caught as another bolt hit him. They need to _ ** _leave_ ** _ . _
> 
> _ Using the last of his strength, Crowley grabbed Aziraphale by the waist and dragged him through a portal, back to the bookshop. _
> 
> _ Then he blacked out._

A million questions bounced around in Crowley's head, making him briefly forget the predicament he was in. He couldn't move, too entrenched in his confusion. 

As the claw came down upon a frozen Crowley, Aziraphale used his last burst of strength to summon his sword and cut the claw holding him down. Calling upon the soul fragment, he boosted his aura, jumped off the ground, and sliced the creature’s head off with one clean cut, landing on his feet as the creature died. The other claw went limp and sank into the swamp. Snapping out of his trance, Crowley could only stare as wisps of aura streamed off Aziraphale, flaming sword burning brightly in his hand.

Crowley’s heart burst when Aziraphale looked at him and all anger bled away from his face, replaced by concern. Why did that seem so **familiar**_? _

“Crowley, my dear, did it hurt you?” Aziraphale ran towards him and cupped his cheek.

“I, uh,” Crowley couldn’t process what was happening. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times, unable to get over the sight of Aziraphale, sweaty and covered in creature innards, looking so gently at him as if he were the only thing that existed in the world. “I alright am me, you?" He shook his head to reset his speech centers. "I mean, I’m alright, how about you? He had you under there for a while.” Crowley reached to move Aziraphale’s hand but was surprised when he was pulled into a tight hug. His senses filled with a bright aura and the scent of fresh air. Aziraphale’s breath tickled his ear.

“Feeling a bit out of shape and a little peckish, but otherwise peachy.” Aziraphale laughed softly. “Oh! I’m absolutely filthy. Now I’ve gotten you dirty too,” he fretted and pulled away.

“I don’t mind,” Crowley said too quickly for his liking. “I mean, that was nice. Er, how did you manage to awaken a crocodile-beast-thing? I left you alone for five minutes.” Crowley raised an eyebrow. 

“In my defense, I saw a family of newts drowning and I went to help them, but I didn’t anticipate that creature there too,” Aziraphale at least had the nerve to look slightly sheepish.

“Aziraphale, you can’t go saving everything that breathes. What are you, some miracle-performing angel? You have to look out for yourself too!”

“Hmph, I’ll have you know that I _ do _have standards,” Aziraphale started.

“Uh, no that’s not true. You told me last time that you saved some sort of family of six from a burning building. _ And _ you didn’t say anything when you second-degree burns from your waist down!” Crowley interrupted, remembering the incident. He felt… a lot of things that day, to say the least, when Aziraphale collapsed out of a portal into his arms, smelling of soot and burned flesh. 

“Crowley, please, it wasn’t that bad. You helped me heal quite nicely, if I do say so myself,” Aziraphale said, flustered at the intensity of Crowley’s look.

“You can’t just go around putting your life in danger like that, angel. At least tell me next time you do something as idiotically selfless as that so I can talk you out of it,” Crowley finished.

Aziraphale blushed. “Angel?”

“What about it?” Crowley held his gaze, embarrassed but not about to show any signs of it.

Aziraphale paused, clearly trying to decide if he should say something. He decided that he had nothing to lose, considering he was just hugging the other man before. “I like that, ‘angel.’ I’ve never had a nickname before.”

** N O T T R U E**

“Well, that’s if we’re not counting when my higher-ups used to call me rather… demeaning names, but that’s besides the point.” He smiled wide, feeling a sense of belonging that he hadn’t felt in a long time. The fragment gave up, and as if right on cue, Aziraphale suddenly felt very drained. He leaned forward, but Crowley caught him before he hit the ground. They stood there for a few moments, Aziraphale leaning into Crowley as he caught his breath. 

Straightening out, Aziraphale resolved not to tell Crowley of the fragment, as much as he longed to. He was somewhat glad for the large creature’s appearance to cover for his ever-present exhaustion. “Seems like that took quite a bit out of me. Dinner?”

Crowley nodded. “I’m starving after all this adventure. Shall we?” He held out an arm. Aziraphale hooked his arm through and opened a portal.

“I’d love to. I heard there was this lovely crepe place right outside the swamp…” 

* * *

> _ “Aziraphale, _ ** _go_ ** _ . I can handle this.” C r◾ w l◾ y created a portal with his free hand and gave him a small smile._
> 
> _ “C r◾ w l◾ y? No, you’ll--!” Aziraphale was shoved into the portal. The last glimpse he saw as the portal closed was C r◾ w l◾ y on his knees, unable to withstand the auras pushing him down, trapping him… _

**  
R E M E M B E R**

Aziraphale woke up, clutching his chest. That was Crowley in his dream, defending him from his higher-ups, wasn’t it? But…

But...?

What was he dreaming about again?

If the fragment had a mouth, it would’ve screamed.

**Author's Note:**

> and that's chapter one! the next chapter should be posted in about a week -- i just want to read through it and make sure everything's good.
> 
> thanks for reading! please yell at me in the comments about how lovely this series is bc truly this series has made my life. i haven't watched a happy series in a while, so this was exactly what i needed.
> 
> you can also catch me on tumblr: https://nonexistentninja.tumblr.com
> 
> once again, thanks for reading! see you in a week


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